


just another kind of memory

by pashmina



Category: Marvel, Marvel (Comics)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-18
Updated: 2014-07-18
Packaged: 2018-02-09 11:00:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,195
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1980423
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pashmina/pseuds/pashmina
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Maria ignores Viper’s flirting, attempts to not kill her (hurting is a different matter entirely), tries to drive, and finally tries to forget the mission ever happened</p>
            </blockquote>





	just another kind of memory

**Author's Note:**

> Written for one of my favorite internet friends.

Just another kind of memory a.k.a. that one mission where Maria ignores Viper’s flirting, attempts to not kill her (hurting is a different matter entirely), tries to drive, and finally tries to forget the mission ever happened

*********

**“ _The human race tends to remember the abuses to which it has been subjected rather than the endearments. What’s left of kisses? Wounds, however, leave scars.” – Bertolt Brecht_**

*********

So they've resorted to hair pulling and biting at each other because sometimes when two opponents of such high caliber come into contact...they're forced to go back to basics. It reminds Viper of her training days and she knows that her jade eyes are lit with a sort of manic energy borne of a desire to survive. She _knows_ that the half-goddess whose human hands are currently yanking the criminal's verdant locks painfully (so the toxin _did_ work) finds that maniacal glint enticing, even if she denies Madame Hydra's flirtatious overtures every time they meet. Well, the Avenger did more than simply deny – she was like a cat, hissing and snarling in that beautiful foreign tongue of hers; Methinks the lady doth protest too  much, _indeed_. However, all these playful musings were far from Viper’s mind at the moment, no, she was far more focused on trying to lean back, far enough that her butting her head into Silverclaw’s would hold some actual weight to it.

But damn it all, even without her divine powers, the raven haired beauty was _strong_. But the terrorist never made any plan with dozens more back up plans and if literally butting heads wasn’t an option – the emerald haired woman brought her knee up sharply into her opponent’s abdomen, causing the hero’s grip to loosen – well, then she’d have to think of something else. An elbow to the shapeshifter’s nose and the snake fell out of the Avenger’s grasp entirely, backing away to send a roundhouse kick. Unfortunately, Silverclaw was as fast as she was strong, catching the green Kevlar clad leg and twisting it. The torque was enough to turn Viper as well, and the terrorist _just_ caught herself from falling on her face, hands splayed flat against the ground. The heroine moved fast, wasting no time in placing Madame Hydra in a trained chokehold.

The women struggled against each other, as Viper retaliated by reaching upwards and pulling hard at the ebony curls; Silverclaw hissed at the pinpoint pain. The blood that had spurted from the copper-skinned woman’s nose was already drying. One arm was tight around the snake’s slender throat, effectively putting the hero in the position of power. And yet, while she attempted to extricate the criminal’s fingers away from her scalp, something shifted. Viper tried to slide out of the hold, and felt herself succeed…somewhat. She could smell sweat, with Silverclaw’s forearm flush against her nose and talon-like hand clawing at her cheek tightening for a moment before the grip suddenly loosened, and the terrorist quickly wriggled away.

“ _Qué diablos!_ ” the woman hissed causing the terrorist to pause. She _had_ been planning an onslaught, but the bewilderment painted on Silverclaw’s face left her admittedly confused. A quick glance behind her revealed that they were still alone on the upper floors of the private lab HYDRA was attacking, so the words were directed at her. Not letting her guard drop, as if that were _ever_ possible, the Hungarian-born tilted her head sharply – an obvious invitation for the Avenger to explain her words. “Your face!” Viper bit back the quip that rose to her lips (yes, her face was quite lovely, she already _knew_ that, was Silverclaw finally ready to admit she found it lovely too?). “There’s something... _incorrecto_ with your face! There is something _under_ your skin. _Como escamas_.” Oh. That. “ _Realmente eres una serpiente._ ”

There was a loud explosion somewhere on the lower floors, and the lights went out. The terrorist was glad she’d managed to fire one shot of her _enhanced_ bullets before Silverclaw had used her last transformation to snatch her guns and through them through the windows. In the moment it’d take for the Avenger’s eyes to adjust to the dark, she’d be able to ensure her own neutral expression remained steadfast; the demi-goddess’s words brought back old, painful memories. At her age, it was often easy to forget in a sense, or rather, suppress the recollections which were irrelevant to her current situation. Her opponent stood still, her silhouette an accumulation of perfected curves, and Viper could _see_ Silverclaw’s tensely coiled muscles in the natural moonlight that gleamed through the unbroken shards of glass that remained in the windows. It was a perfect moment, she hated to break.

“Oh _darling_ ,” she drawled, pushing off from her back foot and launching herself at the heroine. The dark eyed woman hadn’t been expecting to be _literally_ jumped, and fell hard to the floor, Viper’s gloved hands wrapped around her neck. Instinctively, she reached out to do the same. “You’re overreacting,” the jade eyed woman hissed, partially due to the pressure of Silverclaw’s fingers against her throat. Smirking, she continued, “What you felt weren’t scales.” The snake slackened her grasp, instead choosing to forcefully break the shapeshifter’s grip. “They were _scars_.” Tightening her hand into a fist, she pulled back, ready to deliver a blow. “And everyone has those.” And before her punch could land, another explosion shook the floor, hard, and suddenly the women were falling.

It all went dark.

*********

“ _Finally_.”

Maria groans as she slowly traverses that limbo between unconsciousness and consciousness, eyes flickering open. It’s dark, but she can _see_ and relief coursed through her at the realization that she had metabolized whatever poison that _criminal atroz_ had injected into her body. No longer did her senses feel clouded. Unfortunately, that also meant she could hear the sheer disdain dripping from her nemesis’s voice. Her body felt entirely sore, with the sort of ache that embedded itself into every fiber of muscle. Nonetheless, the raven haired woman grunted and slowly roused herself to a sitting position, clutching her throbbing head. “ _Jódete_ ,” she muttered, scowling when those _estupido_ green lips curved into a shark-like grin.

“You only need ask, dear,” she responded, and Maria groaned, squeezing her eyes shut and rubbing her face with her hand; she really _had_ set herself up for that one. “Anytime and anywhere. Though, perhaps, not just right now.” Frowning at the last few words, she raised her coal-like gaze to observe the snake’s coiled figure before her. They seemed to be trapped in the rubble caused by the last explosion, and the terrorist hadn’t come out entirely unscathed. Like Silverclaw, Madame Hydra was clutching her head – Maria could see dark patches in her verdant hair and the coppery scent in the air confirmed that it was blood. A couple bruises were already blooming on her creamy neck, but she seemed more or less okay. A personal inventory revealed scratches and bruises of her own, the most pressing concern turning out to be a small piece of rock pierced into her calf. Gritting her teeth, she pulled it out, then pressed her hand to the wound. It’d heal soon. Or at least she thought it would.

“I’m afraid we’re currently stranded here,” the criminal said tonelessly. “I’ve tried contacting my agents, but…well it isn’t working, I don’t think. And I can’t shift the stone. I thought perhaps _you_ could do that.”

“I could also kill you first,” Maria pointed out. There was a certain hardness in her stare that made it clear she was seriously considering the idea.

“ _Please_ ,” Viper snorted, and the Costa Verdean felt vaguely miffed that her opponent looked so unruffled and perhaps that was even amusement crinkling the corners of her jade eyes. “SHIELD would have a fit if they found out you had an injured Madame Hydra, and instead of taking her into custody, you chose to kill her. I hold far too much information to be wanted dead than alive.”

Fair point, the shapeshifter admitted to herself, though outwardly she continued to frown. It took little effort to change forms, choosing the powerful form of a panther to try and shift the rocks. In mere moments, she had cleared more space. Alas, she couldn’t do much more than that; when she attempted to shift one of the larger rocks, the large concrete slab above them began to slip, and neither woman had a desire to be crushed. Reverting to her human state, the demi-goddess sat back against the stones when she remembered their earlier conversation.

“How do you have scars beneath your skin?”

Viper shrugged.

“Doesn’t really matter does it? I got it in a fight, like most our kind do.”

“ _Our_ kind?” There was absolutely no way Silverclaw had any similarities with the snake. _None_.

“Heroes and villains, anti-heroes and the like. People who can _actually_ change the world.”

And for some time silence reigned as the younger woman contemplated those words. Maria wanted to argue that it was she who sought _change_. Heroes, or at least the Avengers, usually fought to protect the status quo, to prevent the change so many odd megalomaniacs tried to enact. Although, Viper was a different class entirely which frustrated the heroine to no end. She wasn’t power-hungry like so many others Maria had fought. She was so… _indifferent_. When they weren’t fighting, that is. Perhaps the shapeshifter would have argued, but their arguments so often descended into all out battles, and Maria was still tired. Trying to kill each other could wait.

“ _Tengo curiosidad._ ”

“Curiosity killed the cat,” the verdant haired woman quoted with a smirk. Maria rolled her eyes. A beat passed before the terrorist offered, “Acid burn.”

“From an experiment?” It sounded like the sort of thing those science types would do, and from what the dusky skinned woman had heard, the HYDRA leader had quite the talent for developing her own toxins. But the green-clad woman shook her head.

“I _told_ you,” she said condescendingly, and the foreign woman bristled. “I got it in a fight. With your dear Captain, actually. HYDRA attacked a chemical plant.”

She supposed that made sense. But then-

“How is it _under_ your skin?”

“The marvels of modern plastic surgery,” the terrorist replied, waving a dismissive hand. “The acid had eaten away at my skin, so it had to be…covered up.” A sliver of bitterness colored her voice. “I am a _vain bitch_ , you know.”

And Maria did know. The woman had taken it a personal offense when she’d left a lingering scratch that first time. She opened her mouth to speak when she heard muffled voices thanks to her heightened senses. Someone had found them. The expression on her face must have suggested that _something_ was happening because even Viper tensed, and not for the first time Maria wondered if preparing for a fight was the woman’s reaction to _everything._

An increasingly loud rumble, a machine obviously, tore through the slab above the women and both immediately ducked to prevent from being hit. When the sound was finally cut off, the Avenger opened her eyes to see nearly a dozen men peering downwards dressed in navy blue uniforms. Her gaze flickered towards the terrorist who was observing their rescuers with keen, narrowed eyes, only to see them widen.

It wasn’t until the dart hit her leg and her vision began to blur that she remembered that HYDRA uniforms were green.

*********

Escaping was not nearly as difficult as Viper had been expecting. She had woken up in an empty room, an interrogation room if she had to guess given the table she sat at, empty chair, security camera, and one way glass on one side of the room, handcuffed to a chair. One of the uniformed men arrived and spoke to her briefly, asking for a name. She had readily provided her moniker, grinning when he touched his ear and paled. Clearly whoever was providing the man instructions through his earpiece had heard of her. The insignia on the breast pocket of the jacket was familiar, and with a start, the terrorist realized it was the logo on all the material of the building she’d attacked. A private force then, working for some company then. That only made it easier.

Soon, he left; Viper waited exactly 26 minutes before enacting her plan. While most of her paraphernalia had been taken – namely her coat, phone and watch, since Silverclaw had gotten rid of her weapons earlier. It was luck they hadn’t thought to remove the zipper on the front of her Kevlar vest. For aesthetic purposes, the design was slimmer and longer than most zippers, looking more similar to a pin. Letting her long, currently straggly forest strands fall forward to mask her intentions, Viper leaned towards her chest, clamped her teeth on the slider and _pulled_. She could hear the tell-tale rip of fabric as the zip gave. Leaning further forward, the criminal carefully maneuvered the slimmer end into the locking mechanism of the cuffs. Then, while tightening the cuff by pressing it against the edge of the table, Viper pushed her makeshift shim further against the teeth, her own teeth flashing in a sort of grin upon hearing a quiet click.

Her plan relied on the element of surprise, so catching the zip in her teeth again, the viridian haired shifted, resting her forehead against the edge of the table so that her thick hair would cover her freed hand. Then, she repeated the task on her other hand, then ankles. The entire process took no more than 6 minutes. Pausing, a moment of preparation for the upcoming fight, she braced herself before moving with quick graceful movements. Standing, she lifted her chair and _threw_ it against the glass with all the force she could muster. It shattered, and the HYDRA leader was immediately launching herself through her window of opportunity, both literally and figuratively, taking down the two security guards with practiced ease. It helped that the few bullets sent her way were stopped by her Kevlar, even if the zip was beginning to slip downwards.

Grabbing both men’s weapons (two guns and were those grenades?) and one their walkie talkies, she fled the room, bumping into a silvery cheetah like figure. Both women blinked, surprised. Sounds of gunshot startled them into motion, and Viper fell behind, figuring that with her enhanced senses, Silverclaw would be able to find an exit. It was a fight the entire way through and at some point the verdant haired woman manages to get herself stabbed when passing a doorway and a blue-eyed man shoves a glass shard through her Kevlar before she could stop him. She shoots him in the head, of course, but that was still _so rude_. It wasn’t until she bumped into a black vehicle that she realized Silverclaw had led them to some sort of garage. Glancing around, she picked out a new escape route.

“This way,” she snarled to her current ally, pointing at a black armored Hummer with one gun. Since Viper had the long range weapons, it was the raven haired warrior who leapt into the driver’s side on the right. Though the woman had no experience hotwiring a car, she was saved the trouble when a confused looking guard approached passenger side. Striking out with an anaconda shaped arm, she held the man in place while demanding for the keys. The poor man, or rather boy, lifted the said object out of his pocket. Silverclaw would have left the man alone, even as she began pushing the key into the ignition. Unfortunately, Viper reached the passenger’s side and shot him in the chest. Slamming the accelerator she rammed into a half dozen guards coming their way. The bumps were uncomfortable in Viper’s opinion, but necessary.

The copper skin woman made some noises about no exit, causing the terrorist to roll her eyes and point at her lap. Her companion’s burning eyes widened at the sight of the grenades before meeting Viper’s jade eyes and nodding. Okay, so her turns were really sharp, and she weaved more than she drove – but at least that took care of some of the other guards – as they made their way to the garage entrance. 7 seconds away from the metal door, Madame Hydra lowered the window, leaned out, pulled the pins, and threw the grenades before slithering inside once more. Her timing was flawless and the resulting explosion tore a hole in the weak metal, allowing Silverclaw to tear through as well. She didn’t stop, even when driving into, or rather, through the fenced gate.

Suddenly there was silence, and the two women shared a quick glance before the Costa Verdean spoke.

“You’re lips aren’t green anymore,” she remarked – the lipstick must have wiped off sometime during the fight. Then added casually, “You have three holes in your chest.”

Viper looked down sharply, then pulled what remained of the slider upwards from where it had fallen past her sternum to reveal three circular scars.

“Give me the wheel,” she hissed.

Viper was mildly surprised when Maria acquiesced.

*********

As it turns out, HYDRA safe houses were _much_ nicer than SHIELD ones, even if they had gotten weird looks in the five star hotel’s lobby. Determining where they would go had been a long drawn out argument, but eventually the proud demi-goddess had been forced to capitulate. SHIELD safe houses were safe mainly because they didn’t exist until the moment they were needed (and because they were basically empty shacks far from civilization, no, Maria was _not_ complaining). Contacting and preparing one would have taken more time. In any case, she figured the terrorist wouldn’t kill her any time soon. The emerald haired woman had once fervently promised to perform torturous experiments on her first, and from the pallid look on her face, she’d be in no shape to do that any time soon. Of course, the argument had only continued when Viper realized Maria didn’t actually know how to drive. The dark eyed woman huffed; she thought she had done okay. They’d escaped hadn’t they?

The room was lovely, it was a penthouse suite after all, and the shapeshifter almost regretted sinking into the armchair near the window. Outside she could see a generic cityscape prettily lit up – they were somewhere in Switzerland, but she wasn’t entirely sure what city since she’d fallen asleep after arguing with the headstrong criminal. The terrorist had immediately went into the bathroom; the scent of morphine had shot up soon after. Maria’s gaze landed on the hotel phone. Viper had said that HYDRA simply reserved rooms and requested them to stock certain items, she didn’t specify what exactly, and that the reason it was safe was because it seemed so normal. No weird technology. Surely, if she called a SHIELD protected number, HYDRA wouldn’t find out. There was a marginal risk, Viper _had_ to expect Silverclaw would try to catch her, so with a shrug, the demi-goddess rose, and strode to the phone, dialing the number with slender, blood caked fingers. Her identification number was all that was required before an Agent Shae Wiley came on line, voice crisp and professional.

“We have your location. What do you need?”

To the point, the Avenger liked that.

“A retrieval team. Also….I have Madame Hydra. She’s injured,” she said quietly.

There was a pause.

“….Okay. A SHIELD unit will arrive within the hour. 40 minutes, I think.” And then the line went dead.

“What was that?” came the muffled voice of her companion. The woman must not have realized Maria was on the phone. Thinking quickly, the shapeshifter responded with the first thing that came to mind, nearing the bathroom door, which was not entirely closed. Pushing through, she saw Viper struggling with her bodysuit.

“I asked about the three scars on your chest,” she responded, and now, with her vest shrugged half way down, the heroine could see a matching set of three holes on her back. It was a testament to the exhaustion the terrorist must have been feeling, combined with the drug she had taken that Madame Hydra actually replied.

“A mole in the organization killed me. She was the current Madame Hydra at the time. And that bastard of a warrior watched.”

“But you’re alive. And you’re human – you don’t have special powers,” Maria immediately countered, more curious about Viper’s life though, she was impressed _anyone_ had managed to kill the woman.

“Oh my naïve cat goddess,” Viper snorted, though her jaw was set as she attempted to peel the cloth caked to the side of her abdomen with dried blood, “If I’m too valuable to SHIELD to be killed, imagine my worth to HYDRA. They _couldn’t_ leave me dead.” The jade eyed criminal struggled a moment longer before throwing her hands up in the air and speaking crossly. “Just cut the damn piece off, would you?”

Maria wasn’t entirely sure what convinced her to help her enemy, but she did transform her hand into the jungle cat paw, then used a single claw with careful precision to cut the bullet proof material off Viper’s skin. She watched as, unashamed, the woman stripped the body suit, dumping it in the tub, and turning on the water. Medical supplies and towels lined the counter, and the copper toned woman watched with vague fascination as Viper washed her side with warm water and antiseptic, before carefully pulling out a 3 inch piece of glass, all without making a sound.

The criminal _was_ beautiful, even if the heroine would never say it aloud as she observed the expanse of skin visible to her in the mirror as she leaned against the wall, having backed away from the HYDRA leader. Her gaze came to rest on a scar a hands length below her navel. It was different from the others, she could tell it was older, and it was a simple horizontal line. It was a rather odd place to be stabbed.

“What about that one?” she asked, line of sight making it clear what exactly she was asking about. Viper frowned, sparing one glance before returning to the needle and thread she was using on her wound. It was silent until she completed her stitch. Maria waited – she had time to kill after all – though she was somewhat frustrated. The indifference with which she characterized her nemesis was maddening; the woman was sewing up her own body, and yet not a sound, not a hiss, _nothing_ escaped her lips. The one time Silverclaw had wondered aloud how the snake didn’t feel any pain (when in a previous battle, the HYDRA leader had taken a bullet to the arm without flinching), a mere smirk crossed the woman’s lips as she shrugged and replied, “Training.”

“Did you know,” began the moss eyed woman, applying some sort of salve to the stitch, “That the first recorded successful hysterectomies were performed in the 1930s?” The clear shock painted on Maria’s exotic features, as she quelled the urge to strangle the woman for revealing such a detail so unfeelingly prompted Viper to add, “Your body is your weapon – so is mine. It serves no other purpose.”

“ _Eras sólo una niña!_ ”

Viper shrugged.

There was something murderous in the Avenger’s eyes but before she could continue, before she could attempt to find anything _human_ in the snake of a woman, the criminal turned with a flirty smile, though there was something hard in her eyes as well.

“Now, I’d appreciate it if you’d leave, unless you’d care to join me in the shower, my dear.”

Maria fled, reminding herself that killing the woman was _not_ the best idea, even if it was a good one. A look at the digital clock on the bed side table annoyed her even further- a mere 12 minutes had passed since her call to SHIELD. Slouching into chair she had occupied earlier, the raven haired woman pressed her hands to her face, willing herself to calm down to the sound of running water coming from the bathroom. It vaguely reminded her of the rains in her country. The heroine must have half dozed off, because minutes later her enhanced hearing picked up a strange sort of squelching noise. Her eyes flew open, just as a dart drove itself into her shoulder from the gun in Viper’s hands. Silverclaw couldn’t decide who she wanted to punch more; Viper, for shooting her, or herself for relaxing her guard.

“I know you called SHIELD, sweetheart,” the woman purred, though Maria imagined that the wet bodysuit must have been uncomfortable.

“ _Jódete_ ,” the shapeshifter spit out as her senses dulled and she began to fall unconscious for the third time in the past 24 hours.

“Like I said, darling,” the demi-goddess heard through the haze, the terrorist’s woman soft and pleasant. “Anytime and anywhere. Though, perhaps, not just right now.”

*********

_el fin._

*********

**“ _Children show scars like medals. Lovers use them as secrets to reveal. A scar is what happens when the word is made flesh._ ” ~ Leonard Cohen, _The Favorite Game_**

*********

 

**Author's Note:**

> Note: Title taken from “Scars are just another kind of memory.” – M.L. Stedman, The Light Between Oceans


End file.
